Top eight secondary schools Bristol: Sunday Times School Guide reveals best state schools in Parent Power survey

The top state secondary schools in the Bristol area have been revealed in Parent Power, The Sunday Times’ Schools Guide 2022.

Every parent wants their child to get the best start in life and for some in Bristol they are in the lucky position of living next to some of the best schools in the country.

The 29th edition of the Parent Power list identifies top performing schools based on exam results from 2017-2019, with around 1,700 schools included nationally.

Parents can look at the rankings and compare the performance of one school against another, allowing them to have the most up-to-date information when applying for places.

Bristol City Council’s first round for applications for 2022/23 finished on October 31 with offers of school places expected on March 1.

However, changes to applications can be made up to March.

The top state secondary school in the Bristol area was Bristol Cathedral Choir School, which does select 15 per cent of its intake.

Unsurprisingly, the school is oversubscribed each year - last year it received 1,275 applications for 150 places.

As part of the rankings, this year the list went back three years for exam results to provide the ‘most accurate and current view of school academic achievement’.

Alistair McCall, editor of Parent Power, said: “We felt it was important to go back to the last sets of moderated public examination outcomes from 2019, 2018 and 2017 to get the most accurate and current view of school academic achievement.

“By taking a three-year average, we mitigated against relatively poor performance in a one-off year.”

He added: “At a time when some schools are making it hard to substantiate claims of academic prowess based on outcomes from 2021 and 2020, we believe these rankings – and all the additional information on offer in Parent Power – provide parents with a more reliable guide to academic achievement in schools today.”

In second place was Castle School, a mixed comprehensive school with 1,511 pupils, in Thornbury.

And in third place was Gordano School, another mixed comprehensive school with 2,009 pupils, in Portishead.

Here is the full list of top eight state secondary schools in the Bristol area: